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Pickled Peach Skewers with Mozzarella, Basil, and Balsamic

I remember reading the first cookbook from chef Edward Lee when it first came out and I was living in Washington, D.C. He was the first person I came across who had a whole section of his Southern-inspired cookbook that was entirely focused on pickling, and it included a bunch of recipes for pickled fruits, such as peaches or I grapes. “Why haven’t I pickled fruits?” was my first reaction. It opens up a whole new world. Mr. Lee also has a cool recipe for bourbon pickled jalapeno peppers in his first cookbook that is crazy good.
Edward Lee subsequently opened up a restaurant in D.C. called Succotash, which had a Nashville Fried Oyster appetizer that was legendary. The restaurant space was beautiful. In any event, the key takeaways here are that (a) Edward Lee’s cookbooks are worth reading, and (b) you should try to pickle some fruits at home.
I love a classic caprese salad. These pickled peach skewers combine some of the elements of classic caprese salad, swapping out the tomatoes for these sweet, quick-pickled peaches.
The following recipe makes about 12 toothpick skewers, but can easily be scaled up for down. Try to assemble right before serving.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup champagne vinegar
  • 1 cup white granulated sugar
  • 2 summer peaches (ripe but not overripe)
  • 12 mini mozzarella balls (drained)
  • 12 small basil leaves
  • 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp balsamic glaze (for finishing)

Instructions 

  • Combine the water, champagne vinegar, and white granulated sugar in a small sauce pot on the stove.
  • Increase the heat to medium, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
  • Remove the sauce pot from the heat, and allow it to cool at room temperature.
  • When the sweet pickling liquid has cooled, cut each peach into six slices, resulting in twelve slices total for the two peaches.
  • Place the peach slices in the pickling liquid, and allow the peaches to sit in the pickling liquid in the fridge overnight.
  • When you are ready to assemble your pickled peach skewers, simply skewer together the peach slices with some basil and a mini mozzarella ball.
  • Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil and the balsamic glaze.
  • Serve right after assembly, with some napkins.

Notes

You want your peaches in this recipe to be ripe and sweet, but note that if you pickle them when they are too soft, they have a tendency to fall apart after soaking the pickling liquid, and won’t be easy to get to stay on the skewer.
Any extra picked peaches can be stored in the pickling liquid in the fridge for at least a week.